Nazi repression

• Police state


  A state in which the police control every aspect of daily life for citizens
• Gleichschaltung


  Control and conformity through repression
• The Gestapo


  • Hitler's secret police service
  • Set up by Hermann Goering in 1933
  • Led by Reynhard Heydrich in 1934
  • Did not wear uniforms as they were secret investigators
• Purpose of the Gestapo


  • A small unit of 50,000 police men who relied on informers to identify opponents
  • Spied on German citizens and prosecuted people who spoke against the Nazi regime
  • Punishment for such a crime was torture or being sent to a concentration camp
• The SS


  • Hitler's Protection Squad (bodyguards)
  • Set up in 1925 and led by Heinrich Himmler
  • Recruited Aryans, with an expectation that SS troops would have children with Aryan women
  • Highly trained and very disciplined
  • Wore black uniforms
  • Had 90,000 full-time employees and 200,000 'informal workers' (informants)
• Role of the SS


  • In charge of Germany's police force
  • Had the power to search people's property and send them to prison without receiving a trial
  • Ran the concentration camps
  • In the Second World War, were in charge of the Einsatzgruppen and death camps
• The SD


  • Hitler's Security Service
  • Set up by Heinrich Himmler in 1931
  • Led by Reynhard Heydrich
  • Spied on Nazi opposition in Germany and in other countries
• Concentration Camps


  • Used to house Nazi opponents, including political prisoners, 'undesirables' such as prostitutes or homosexuals, and ethnic minorities such as the Jews or Roma
  • Isolated so no one could see the bad things that happened in them
  • Prisoners were forced to do hard labour and were ill-treated
• Control of the Law


  • The Nazis got rid of trials by jury and instead all decisions rested with the judge alone
  • It was compulsory for all judges to join the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law
  • All judges had to rule in the Nazis' favour
• Success of Nazi Repression


  • The German population thought the Gestapo and SS were everywhere, which meant the German people did not oppose the Nazi regime
  • The Gestapo had so many informants that there was no dissent, as everyone was careful about what they said about the Nazis in fear of being reported
  • Many German citizens were encouraged to spy, some for personal agendas, and 200,000 were paid by the SS for spying
  • Repression (control by force) was more important than propaganda in creating Gleichschaltung